The Batman - Everything We Know (Release Date, Cast, Plot and More)

DC is going back to the beginning.

We may have seen the last of Ben Affleck's big screen Batman, but that doesn't mean we won't be seeing plenty of the Dark Knight in the years to come. Not only are we getting a proper origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime in the upcoming Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, but Batman himself is being rebooted once more as well with Robert Pattinson playing the Caped Crusader this time around.

Read on to learn everything we know so far about The Batman, including the release date, the director, the cast and what little DC has revealed about the plot.

The Batman's Release Date

The Batman is currently scheduled for release on June 25, 2021. Given DC's habit of moving release dates around (with Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman 1984 both being significantly delayed), there's no guarantee this release date won't change in the future. However, with a director and star now officially locked in, hopefully the film will stay on course from here on out.

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The Batman's Title

With this reboot changing production dates, directors, writers and lead actors in recent years, about the only thing that's remained constant is the title. This new Batman film will simply be titled The Batman.

It may be no coincidence that the movie shares a title with the 2004 animated series. Both projects focus on a younger Bruce Wayne early in his crime-fighting career. "The Batman" is how the people of Gotham tend to refer to their protector early on, when he's an unfamiliar and mistrusted presence in a city plagued by crime and corruption.

The New Batman Movie's Trailers

No trailers for The Batman have been released yet.

The Batman Cast & Crew

When word of Warner Bros.'s next solo Batman movie first surfaced in July 2015, it was believed that Ben Affleck would direct and star, with Affleck and Geoff Johns co-writing the screenplay. However, the project has undergone a major shift since then, with Affleck dropping out (first as director and then completely) and the screenplay being substantially altered.

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Matt Reeves (War of the Planet of the Apes) has now been tapped to direct The Batman. Reeves is also writing the film and is serving as producer alongside fellow Apes veteran Dylan Clark.

Robert Pattinson (Cosmopolis and, yes, the Twilight movies) is starring as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The choice to cast Pattinson was apparently a simple one, with a Warners insider describing it as "quicker than normal." Pattinson's main source of competition was Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class), with both actors participating in a costume test in May 2019, shortly before Pattinson officially signed on.

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No other cast members have been confirmed yet. Joe Manganiello was expected to play master assassin Deathstroke in the Affleck/Johns movie, and even appeared in a brief post-credits scene in Justice League as a new recruit to Lex Luthor's supervillain team. However, it's unknown where or even if Manganiello will reprise the role now. It's also assumed Jeremy Irons will no longer be returning as Alfred.

The Batman's Plot

Very little is known about the plot of The Batman. The film is reported to be set in the '90s, early on in Bruce Wayne's costumed career. This could indicate that Pattinson is playing a younger version of Affleck's Batman. Batman v Superman established that the Waynes were murdered in 1981, meaning Bruce would have first suited up as Batman in the early or mid-'90s.

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With DC downplaying the DCEU name and focusing less on continuity between movies post-Justice League, it's hard to know for sure whether The Batman is meant to be a complete reboot or an extension of past DCEU movies. Reeves indicated in 2017 that the movie is set in the DCEU, but that may have changed since.

We know that the film won't be an origin story. The Batman will take a more noir and mystery-oriented approach to the Dark Knight's world, emphasizing his detective skills more than previous movies and drawing inspiration from the work of Alfred Hitchcock. However, Reeves is said to have recently tweaked the script to include more action and give fans a more well-rounded superhero experience.

Multiple reports suggest The Batman is the start of a new trilogy. Reeves revealed as far back as 2017 that he has ideas for a multi-movie Batman story. "I have ideas about an arc," Reeves said in 2017, "but really, the important thing is just to start... you have to start with one."

The Batman's Development

With The Batman undergoing some major changes over the past few years, a breakdown of the film's rocky development is probably in order.

July 2015 - Ben Affleck enters talks to co-write, direct and star in a solo Batman movie, with Geoff Johns expected to co-write.

March 2016 - Affleck's screenplay draft is completed. Johns hints the solo Batman movie may deal with the backstory of the defaced Robin costume seen in Batman v Superman.